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Lifestyle choices limit cancer risk
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If you knew that the decisions you made every day would have a significant impact on your risk of getting cancer, what would you change? The truth is, our choices do influence our cancer risk. While some cancers are the result of factors we can’t control, such as genetics, research shows that the majority are the result of choices we make every day and how we live our lives.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates in its Cancer Facts & Figures 2009 that the number of new cancer cases in the U.S. this year will be 1,479,350, with 4,690 of those new cases occurring in Delaware.
According to the ACS, two major classes of factors influence the incidence of cancer: hereditary factors and acquired environmental factors. Hereditary factors are inherited from our parents and can’t be modified. However, most cancers today are linked to these acquired environmental factors, which account for an estimated 75% to 80% of cancer cases and deaths in the US.
There is something we can do to limit the risk of environmental factors, as they are potentially controllable. They include tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, obesity, excessive sun exposure and exposure to carcinogens - cancer-causing agents – that exist as pollutants in our air, food, water and soil. Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death worldwide. In the developed world, poor diets, inadequate physical activity, and obesity are second only to tobacco use as causes of cancer.
Scientific evidence suggests that about one-third of cancer deaths each year in the U.S. are due to controllable nutritional and physical activity factors, including excess weight. The ACS points out that all cancers caused by cigarette smoking and heavy use of alcohol are completely preventable. For the majority of Americans who do not use tobacco, what we eat and how much we exercise are the most important controllable determinants of our cancer risk.
What you can do
The good news here is that starting today we can make the choices and changes necessary to limit our risk of cancer. In addition to recommending that you avoid excessive sun exposure and quit smoking, the ACS outlines four basic nutrition and exercise recommendations to help Americans reduce our risk of cancer as well as heart disease and diabetes.
1. Maintain a healthy weight throughout your life
· Balance calorie intake with physical activity.
· Avoid excessive weight gain throughout life.
· Achieve and maintain a healthy weight if you are currently overweight or obese.
2. Adopt a physically active lifestyle
· Adults: Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on 5 or more days per week. This is in addition to your usual activities. 45 to 60 minutes is preferred.
· Children and adolescents: Engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days per week.
3. Eat a healthy diet with an emphasis on plant foods fruits and vegetables
· Manage your food and beverage portion sizes to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
· Eat 5 or more servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables each day.
· Choose whole grains over refined, processed grains.
· Limit your intake of processed and red meat.
4. If you drink alcohol, limit your intake
People who drink alcohol should limit their intake to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. Alcohol consumption is an established cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver and breast. Your risk of getting each of these cancers increases substantially with alcohol intake of more than two drinks per day.
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